IN THE GUUE THE NEW DUAL USE GOODS PROCEDURE

The new dual-use goods regulation, now a reality with the publication of Reg. (EU) N. 821/21, will enter into force on 9 September. Since then, the responsibility in this matter that the legislator has assigned to economic operators will also take shape.

The contribution of exporters, intermediaries and, in general, of all parties involved in the export processes of dual-use goods is essential for the proper management of controls dictated by the legislator, helping to ensure a level playing field between operators; the IcPs (Internal Compliance Programmes), called upon to make a timely assessment of the risks associated with the export of dual-use goods for end-users, play a central role in the new legislation. The analyzes carried out to date, in order to verify the applicability of the dual use legislation to the products, will no longer be sufficient, from 9 September it will not be a matter of guaranteeing (only) a technical compliance of the products, but of taking responsibility for ensuring the correct risk assessment, attention! not really, but “for end users and end uses”. A company evaluation, crystallized in a procedure as well as the quality and documents necessary for the AEO authorization, which identifies and defines subjects and responsibilities, analyzes the characteristics of the exported products, checks their compliance with the legislation, both in objective terms and in terms of potential risk related to the marketing of the products themselves, foreshadowing the risks associated with their use. A document, necessary and not discretionary, that commits the responsibility of the company management, committing it to third parties. The legislator does not indicate predetermined methods of analysis or content; But it foreshadows guidelines for internal compliance programs which “should take into account differences in size, resources, sectors of activity and other characteristics and conditions of exporters and their subsidiaries, such as structures and standards of conformity in group, thus avoiding the approach of a “one-size-all model” and helping each exporter to find its own solutions for compliance and competitiveness. Exporters using global export authorizations should implement an ICP, unless the competent authority considers it unnecessary due to other circumstances which it has taken into account in dealing with the exporter’s application for a global export authorization. Pending these guidelines and the entry into force of the new discipline, it will   be good practice to start evaluating the modalities and timing of implementation of the compliance program, scheduling its drafting also due to the complexity and danger index of its business.